Stories

Recalling Our Role as Guardians of Mother Earth

The Seven Grandfather and Medicine Wheel teachings given to us by the Anishinabek Nation give us a road map or a 'way of being' in our lifetime. The teachings of Honesty, Respect, Love, Wisdom/knowledge, Courage/bravery, Humility and Truth teach us how to live our lives in a good and kind way and show us how to treat all living beings. As with all teachings of the Medicine Wheel we start in the East where life begins and the sun rises, and we work our way to the South, West and finally the North. Along the way we learn about the stages of life and the responsibilities presented in each stage. In our ceremonies we honour those teachings and those that give life. We honour the water and all of Creation. When we ...

When the cold weather comes and the boggy surface of the muskeg solidifies, the boreal region of Northeastern British Columbia becomes littered with a network of temporary roads. Searching for oil and gas, multinational companies place down kilometers of matting roads along the floor of the boreal forest. Matting roads are an expandable structure of steel and laminated wood which vehicles then use to enter the boreal in search of prospective natural resource extraction sites. Currently, one site of particular interest is the Horn River Basin. The Horn River Basin is a natural gas shale field found within Fort Nelson First Nation traditional territory. It is believed to be the largest shale gas field in Canada, which explains why multinational companies are mapping this otherwise isolated region of British Columbia. The interest in developing the Horn River Basin is ...

Celebration of Place: Ochiwasahow

Stories come out of the forest, of its waters, woods and wildlife, as regular as the eagle flies overhead. The people of Fisher River Cree Nation share a past and continue to develop a future that is braided with the landscape around them. Community member, Sam Murdock, has tales of his time spent hunting in the area and of commercial fishing on Lake Winnipeg which he's done for the past 35 years. His stories are also of sunsets and contemplation. “I do a lot of hunting; spend time out on the land. It relaxes me and gives me a different perspective. I get a chance to sit among the spruce trees and watch them come alive.” The commercial fishery thrives in Fisher Bay, and hunting and trapping – though to a lesser extent than in the past – ...

Wildlife biologist and self-proclaimed “Batman” Dr. Craig Willis captivated 30 Fisher River Cree Nation youth with tales of secret bat caves. Not your typical caves, small holes in the ground open up below the surface to large cavernous rooms. This characteristic makes it difficult to locate the caves and as a result their total number remains a mystery. By far the most important of the known sites in the province houses 25,000 bats each winter and is adjacent to the proposed Ochiwasahow, or Fisher Bay, provincial park. The proposed park area includes abundant forests including old growth which is ideal summer habitat for maternity colonies of little brown bats. The greatest threat to the Little Brown Bat is the loss of their habitat. Fisher River Cree Nation is working to protect the area by asking the government to establish a Fisher Bay provincial park. Protecting the caves as well as the ...

By Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director Traditional medicine man and teacher ‘Morning Star' Garry Raven passed away on January 17, 2010. I met him in 2001 when I visited his home in Hollow Water First Nation to discuss the potential of the Manigotagan River and surrounding area being protected in a provincial park. He welcomed me with open arms and I soon became impressed by Garry's vast knowledge and strong desire to protect the Boreal Forest from industrial developments. Since our first meeting, the Manigotagan River park has been formed and I have spent many days chatting with Garry and attending inspiring gatherings at Ravens Creek Ti-pi Village – his home and teaching place. Garry took many of his visitors on walks to locate traditional medicines and explain their uses. He also taught individuals and groups about Aboriginal spirituality and ...

Written by C. Hunnie

Bloodvein River First Nation has joined the quest for a World Heritage Site on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. As an active member of Pimachiowin Aki - a unique partnership to safeguard the Anishinabe culture and the boreal forest - Bloodvein River First Nation joins the First Nations of Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids, Paungassi and Pikangikum as well as the provincial governments of Manitoba and Ontario. William Young, band councilor and spokesperson for Bloodvein First Nation, reveals that more than half of the community's traditional territory of 4300 square kilometres will be added to the current 40,000 square kilometres in the proposed World Heritage Site area. He states it is likely more land will be included after consultation with community membership. Bloodvein River First Nation is located 210 kilometres north of Winnipeg along three kilometres ...

By C. Hunnie

For millennia, Canada's indigenous peoples have sustained complex relationships with the wildlife and environments in which they lived. This wisdom embraces the need to live in harmony and peace with the earth and with one another. Shawna Snache carries on this cultural tradition, inspiring change through her words and her actions. “By simply being Anishnaabe people we've been given a responsibility to take good care of mother earth and her children,” she states. “I'm afraid that a lot of us have forgotten but I also strongly believe that we will awaken and remember what is it we are supposed to be doing. We will remember our medicines and how to prepare them. We will acknowledge our part in Creation once again […] We are getting stronger and with that will come a return to our original roles ...

By C. Hunnie

Listen

Describing his relationship to the land Fred Stevens replies, “It is a place to meditate. It is my space.” Fred, an Aboriginal teacher and community health worker, resides north of Swan River, Manitoba on the northwest shore of the province's second largest lake, Lake Winnipegosis. He calls it a hamlet, an old fish camp area surrounded by boreal wilderness where he and three other families live. Fred has a knowledge of the boreal forest. He explains, “We depend on Mother Earth. Our brothers and sisters depend on her; when I say brothers and sisters I mean the plants, the trees, the four-legged animals, everything is interconnected.” He shares this understanding with Aboriginal youth where he is a teacher for youth culture camps. A recent recipient of the 2009 Spirit of the Earth Award, the Mino Aski (Good Earth) ...

by Written by Kailee Carr

Kailee Carr is Nuu-chah-nulth from the Ahousaht Nation. She is a teacher (and hobby writer) passionate about First Nations issues, especially within the contexts of education, health, and the environment. When I was younger living on the Ahousaht reserve on the west coast of Vancouver Island I was aware of how greatly animals, the forest and the ocean influenced the Nuu-chah-nulth people's history and culture, including our language, songs, stories, dances and traditions. Deeply etched in many other First Nations peoples' way of life is their immediate link to the place in which they live, and with so many Aboriginal communities located in the boreal forests of Canada it is important to respect and protect these environments. I wrote the following story in tribute to the value that many Indigenous people place on the interdependent relationship between ...

By Billy Granger

When Dan Thomas was in grade 11, he decided he had enough. Like many other students before and since Dan's time at boarding school, he was taught a version of Canadian history that glorified the Europeans and made footnotes of the vast and ancient history of Canada's First Nations. As an Anishinaabe youth from Matheson Island and later Sagkeeng First Nation who grew up listening to the words of his Elders, it was clear to him that the stories being taught about Canada and its peoples were incomplete. He had to do something about it. “We decided to go on strike,” says Thomas, referring to the small cadre of students who banded together to protest the school curriculum. Their strike made a strong statement indeed, and won them some face time with the principal. When ...